Leading From Two Directions

Lately, I’ve been noticing two distinct patterns in how leaders organize their attention and decisions.

🔹 Pattern One: The External Compass

These leaders are shaped primarily by the reality around them — their stakeholders, their context, and what is happening on the ground. What they see outside themselves drives and shapes their internal agenda. They are deeply attuned to their board, their staff, their clients, and the market. They care a great deal — but they often feel reactive and depleted because their direction is set by what is pressing on them.

🔹 Pattern Two: The Internal Compass

These leaders are shaped primarily by what is happening inside them — what they think, what they feel, and what their instincts and values tell them. Their work is then to influence, communicate, and bring the outside world along with their ideas. They operate to their own standards, their own sense of value, and their own rhythm. They are thoughtful and principled — but they are often surprised when their intentions don’t land as expected. Both groups are trying to lead well. And both are missing something essential.

Leadership has a direction, not just a style. It has momentum — something is driving where attention and energy go.

➡️ For some leaders, that momentum comes from Leading from the Outside-In.

➡️ For others, it comes from Leading from the Inside-Out.

This is a two-part series about those two directions of leadership.

📌 Part 1: What these two patterns look like in practice — and why leadership needs both

📌 Part 2: How to measure Leadership from the Inside-Out, not just feel it

For now, let’s look at the two directions themselves.

🌍 Leading from the Outside-In

Leading from the Outside-In is driven by responsiveness. It asks:

• What do our stakeholders need?

• What is happening around us?

• What expectations are shifting?

• What realities do I have to work with?

This kind of leadership keeps you relevant. It prevents isolation. It reminds you that leadership does not happen in a vacuum.

⚠️ When this becomes the only driver:

• Leaders become reactive

• They chase approval

• They shape priorities based on pressure rather than purpose

• They confuse what is loudest with what is most important

Over time, leadership shifts from stewardship → performance. The problem is not listening. It is treating every outside voice as a directive. Without an internal sense of purpose to balance that input, leaders end up managing impressions instead of leading with direction.

🌱 Leading from the Inside-Out

Leading from the Inside-Out is driven by self-direction. It asks:

• What am I learning right now?

• What kind of leader am I becoming?

• What patterns do I need to outgrow?

• What do I want to stand for?

This kind of leadership keeps you rooted. It creates coherence between values and behavior. It supports integrity and long-term development.

⚠️ When this becomes the only driver:

• Leaders lose touch with what’s happening on the ground

• They discount other perspectives

• They treat feedback as interference

• They turn development into a closed loop

Over time, leadership becomes an echo chamber. The problem is not reflection. It is reflection without calibration. Without external perspectives to challenge and reframe, leaders can become disconnected from reality.

⚖️ Why Leadership Needs Both

Leadership is not a choice between being responsive or being grounded.

It is a practice of holding both.

🌍 Leading from the Outside-In keeps you connected to reality.

🌱 Leading from the Inside-Out keeps you connected to yourself.

➡️ Without Outside-In → Inside-Out becomes insulated

➡️ Without Inside-Out → Outside-In becomes reactive

So the real question is not: What kind of leader should I be?

It is: What is driving my leadership right now?

🛠 A Practical Way to Practice Two-Directional Leadership: Five Reflective Questions

When you feel pulled strongly in one direction, pause and ask:

1️⃣ What is shaping my attention right now — external pressure or internal purpose?

2️⃣ What information from the outside world am I missing or discounting?

3️⃣ What part of this decision is about who I am becoming as a leader?

4️⃣ If I leaned slightly more in the opposite direction, what would change?

5️⃣ What choice honors both the reality I’m leading in and the leader I’m becoming?

You don’t need perfect balance. You need conscious movement between the two directions. That is how intention becomes leadership practice.

🧩 Conclusion

Most leadership problems are not caused by lack of effort or values. They are caused by imbalance. When leaders rely too heavily on outside signals, they lose direction. When they rely too heavily on inner conviction, they lose relevance.

Effective leadership requires both:

✔ an internal point of view

✔ a disciplined connection to reality

✔ and access to a valued community that can challenge assumptions and reframe perspective

The ability to work from both directions is not a personality trait. It is a leadership skill — and one of the clearest marks of mature leadership. Like any skill, it improves with practice.

📅 Next week: How do you measure Leadership from the Inside-Out? We are very good at tracking results in the outside world. But what does it mean to track growth on the inside?